When Bay Crossings caught up with David Gockley, San Francisco Opera’s sixth general director, he was busy preparing for the company’s summer season, which features three major productions: La Traviata, Tosca and Porgy & Bess.
One of this season’s features at the San Francisco Opera is Porgy & Bess.
By Paul Duclos
Published: June, 2009
When Bay Crossings caught up with David Gockley, San Francisco Opera’s sixth general director, he was busy preparing for the company’s summer season, which features three major productions: La Traviata, Tosca and Porgy & Bess.
Following in the footsteps of General Directors Gaetano Merola (1923-1953), Kurt Herbert Adler (1953-1981), Terence A. McEwen (1982-1988), Lotfi Mansouri (1988-2001), and Pamela Rosenberg (2001-2005), Gockley is considered one of the major innovators in American opera. He came to San Francisco from Houston Grand Opera (HGO), the organization that he led for more than three decades. Gockley transformed HGO from a small regional company into one of the leading opera companies in the United States with a bold mixture of traditional and adventurous repertoire, the application of modern technology to reach new audiences, artistic excellence, and solid financial governance. A self-described “progressive traditionalist,” Gockley is passionately committed to the premise that opera is a living art form that speaks to a variety of audiences—including Bay Crossings readers.
Bay Crossings: You are addressing a captive audience right now. What have you to say about this summer’s SFO season that will have special relevance to Bay Area ferry commuters?
David Gockley: It’s a blockbuster season of proven favorites. Porgy & Bess features a hurricane in Act II, which I pray ferry riders are spared!
BC: We understand you live in Sausalito, a key ferry destination and home to many of our readers. Why is that lifestyle attractive to you?
DG: I love living with a water view. Looking across the Bay towards Oakland provides constantly changing colors and sky patterns. I find it restful, meditative and humbling.
BC: Porgy & Bess has a pronounced waterfront theme. Does living at water’s edge lend to the drama?
DG: Living on the water provides a living for the fishermen who inhabit Catfish Row. But the threat of hurricanes in late summer and fall endanger the lives of all living on the low, sea-level wharves and islands.
BC: Finally, what can you tell us about the “Opera in the (AT&T) Park” event? Can we expect any fireworks or home runs?
DG: I wish boats anchored in McCovey Cove could view the huge high-definition screen inside the ball park. The images are amazing and can be seen from quite a distance. The singers in Tosca will hit at least ten vocal “home runs” that will thrill as much as seeing the real thing.
San Francisco Opera’s sixth general director, David Gockley. Photo by Michael Winkokur
